Billionaires Are Turning AGAINST Democracy. Here’s Why

The conventional wisdom about Silicon Valley is that over recent years, it drifted from liberalism to Donald Trump. Founders got red-pilled, or incurred petty grievances, or simply got too online. But journalist Gil Durán suggests there’s more to it. In his new book The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy, Durán pinpoints an insidious theory inside Silicon Valley: that democracy itself is an obstacle to their own freedom – meaning freedom from us, and from society. In this valuable interview, Durán speaks to Prem Thakker about the quiet theories driving Silicon Valley’s attempted global takeover, and explains why JD Vance is no more than a “puppet” of that movement, and how the media and Democrats failed to take these titans seriously – or are in fact working hand-in-glove with them. Durán lays out the big threats to U.S. democracy, highlighting Crypto as the “scammy digital crime tool” that gave billionaires access to Trump, making him the “crypto bro-in-chief.” This interview was published on Zeteo.com on August 25, 2026. If you want early, exclusive access to this kind of independent, unfiltered journalism — subscribe to our Substack here: https://zeteo.com/subscribe Chapters: 00:37 Intro 01:33 The Radicalization of Silicon Valley 03:32 Peter Thiel Says the Quiet Part Out Loud 06:13 Why Billionaires Embrace Fascism 09:14 The Billionaires’ Victim Mentality 12:18 The Crypto Cartel and Politics 15:50 Billionaire-Funded Private Cities 18:50 Billionaires’ Apocalyptic Prophecies 21:00 Billionaires Are Showing Us Who They Are 23:23 Why Tech Bros Court Both Parties 27:02 Trump Is the ‘Crypto Bro-in-Chief’ 29:05 How to Face the Broligarchy 32:02 JD Vance Is a Radical Extremist 34:41 How Fascist Ideals Were Cloaked in Plain Sight Subscribe to Zeteo to support independent and unfiltered journalism: https://zeteo.com/subscribe Find Zeteo: Twitter:   / zeteo_news   Instagram:   / zeteonews   TikTok:   / zeteonews   Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/zeteo.com Find Mehdi: Substack: https://substack.com/@mehdirhasan Twitter:   / @mehdirhasan   Instagram:   / @mehdirhasan   Tik Tok:   / mehdirhasan   To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/networ...